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3.26.2018

It's time to start thinking about summer vacations. North Carolina is a beautiful place. We are fortunate because we have the mountains and coastal islands. For a special travel series, I'll be updating a lot of North Carolina Travel posts to help you plan your NC vacation. ﻿﻿

Photo by Leigh Powell Hines

﻿﻿In any spare moment of time lately, I’ve been dreaming of vacations. Maybe it’s the start of spring, and even though I don’t really want to try to find a swimsuit, I’m ready for some warm weather, relaxation, and some fun in the sun. And when I get in these moods, I tend to think of one place. It is tranquil, beautiful, and in my opinion, one of North Carolina’s most precious gems.

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Photo by Leigh Powell Hines

This picturesque island sits two nautical miles off the coast of Brunswick County, NC and is only accessible by passenger ferry or private boat. Golf carts and bicycles are the main forms of transportation on this island.

3.21.2018

Wendell, North Carolina, historically a small tobacco-farming town, is located 20 miles outside of downtown Raleigh. Like most small southern towns, it has a little main street and beautiful homes with southern porches that once belonged to the town's elite. There is not much hustle and bustle in Wendell any more. Things move at a slower pace here. At 10 a.m, most things were closed except for a local grill and a cute little coffee shop.

Wendell has a bank or two, a wine shop, a general store and hip and cool distillery, called Oaklee Distilling Co.

3.07.2018

Have I told you that I love Bailey's Irish Cream? I really love it in coffee as an after-dinner drink. I love Bailey's Irish Cream so much that one could really accuse me of naming my cat after the liquor. I did put a shot of Bailey's in my coffee about the exact time I threw-out Bailey as a name for our 20-pound, green-eyed, black cat. We no longer have Bailey the cat, but I do have Bailey's Irish Cream in my kitchen along with 12 glass coffee mugs.

3.01.2018

I've not traveled much since we bought our new house in Raleigh, adopted a dog, and become a slave to the traditional school schedule where we only have our summer off to explore.

Last weekend, I was finally back on assignment in the off-season.

After seven years of owning this blog, Will and I have an unspoken blog agreement. Paid gigs get my priority when it comes to my time. Additional writing perks such as media visits come second to my first job of managing the household and being a parent. Media writing assignments are for when I burn the midnight oil, if and when I have extra time. And let's face it! As an almost 50-year-old menopausal woman with an 8-year-old and a 12-year-old, I'm exhausted most of the time and there is no "burning the midnight oil" in this house these days. The invitation to visit the AC Hotel in Raleigh North Hills came at the perfect time in my life because I needed a hotel stay to renew me and awaken my senses to escape the ordinary in my life. The best part of all is that I only had to drive 15-minutes to experience all of this in my hometown.

The AC Hotel by Marriott is hotel brand that I've been curious about but had no personal experience. Last year, Raleigh's North Hills area was the first site in North Carolina to open the AC Raleigh Hotel. Asheville and Chapel Hill followed suit later in the year with two more properties. Charlotte, NC will open the fourth AC Hotel in North Carolina this spring.